BOARD DATE:	  19 April 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120004641 


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests that the records of her deceased son, a former service member (FSM), be corrected to show his middle as "_e_a_" instead of "_i_o_."

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that the FSM's middle name is misspelled in his military personnel records and should be corrected to show the middle name of "_e_a_" as shown on his birth certificate. 

3.  The applicant provides a State of Michigan Department of Public Health Certificate of Birth, dated 20 October 1975. 

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The FSM had prior service in the U.S. Marine Corps.  He enlisted in the Regular Army on 2 April 2007.  All documents in his available service personnel and medical records show his middle name as "_i_o_."

2.  A DD Form 1300 prepared on 1 November 2011, shows the FSM died from wounds he received while in combat on 26 May 2011 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  Item 3 (Name) of this form shows the FSM's middle name as "_i_o_."

3.  The applicant provided a State of Michigan Department of Public Health Certificate of Birth that shows the FSM middle name as "_e_a_."


4.  Army Regulation 600-8-1 (Army Casualty Program) prescribes the policies and mandated operating tasks, responsibilities, and procedures for casualty operations functions of the military personnel system.  It provides the Casualty and Memorial Affairs Operations Center (CMAOC), U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, KY, will issue a DD Form 1300 for all Army members who die on active duty.  DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) is not issued when a Soldier dies on active duty.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant provided the FSM's State of Michigan Department of Public Health Certificate of Birth that shows his middle name as "_e_a_."

2.  The FSM, however, enlisted and served using the middle name of "_i_o_."  The name appears as his middle name on his DD Form 1300.  For historical purposes, the Army has an interest in maintaining the accuracy of its records.  The data and information contained in those records should reflect the conditions and circumstances that existed at the time the records were created.  There is a reluctance to recommend that those records be changed.

3.  In this particular case, it may be presumed the FSM, had he lived, would have recognized the error relating to his middle name and would have taken appropriate action to correct that error while still on active duty.  Therefore, it would be appropriate to correct the FSM's DD Form 1300 to show his middle name as "_e_a_."  The corrected document and a copy of this decisional document along with the applicant's application and supporting evidence will be filed in the FSM's Official Military Personnel File (OMPF).

BOARD VOTE:

___x__  ___x_____  ____x____  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined the evidence presented Is sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:
* correcting the FSM's DD Form 1300 to that shown on his birth certificate
* filing the corrected DD Form 1300 and this Record of Proceedings in the FSM's OMPF



      ___________x______________
       	     CHAIRPERSON
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.



ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120004641





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120004641



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